"Corrado" - A production blog

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Definitely a pleasant surprise.

I am again reminded of how much the DVX community means to me and how awesome it is to meet people with similar goals that are kind and have or are becoming great friends.

Adam has been added to the list.
 
Well said Luis. It appears to me that the community is having a particularly robust and thriving resurgence of late. Obviously, Corrado is a big part of that energy and if there was a "Best Thread" award I think Adam would win hands down. However, what is even more exciting is all the other projects, talents and shared pursuits that pepper this place.

The current DVXUSER FEST appears to be setting records for participation and there are so many interesting projects and endeavors with a real sense of camaraderie and generosity. This place represents the true promise of the internet and it shows just what is possible when people are willing to cooperate and help each other.

Frankly, the generosity is what inspires me and Adam has been so incredibly willing to share information, time and energy that I am humbled. Godspeed with your edit and post Adam!
 
Thanks Mark!

Check out some of the photos my photog took of the movie on set. They'll show you much more than I could possibly describe.


Photos were taken by Ed Gabrys, a very talented photographer who was present for something like 10 days on set. Always in the background, snapping them off quietly. So glad he was there.

Enjoy!!!!!


Edit: Whoops! some actors have studio stills approval in their contracts. Until they approve, I have to hide the link. Sorry!
 
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Well, it was a week yesterday we wrapped. I am still tired, a lingering exhaustion that doesn't go away. It's due in part to my radical editing schedule, I suppose.

I started the edit last Tuesday. I've worked on it every day, as of of today, I have 50 minutes of the film cut. I am wearing a pharmacy bought neck brace to ease the long hours in front of the computer.

Before I started the edit, I went out and bought a 24" widescreen monitor. I bought the most expensive one they had at Staples (happened to be close to my house). It's an Acer, and works very well. Way too bright for color correction, but still a great monitor that is huge so I don't go blind after staring at it for 12 hours per day.

I've developed a little system editing. There is no quick way to do it, but this is what I have been doing:

1. My bins are arranged by shoot day. Day 1 has it's own bin, and so on.
2. I will edit only one bin at a time.
3. I will further edit only one scene at a time.
4. I then take all the takes of the master, all the takes of the coverage, and put them on the timeline grouped together so that it goes master take 1, take 2, etc. and coverage take 1, take 2, etc.
5. I then watch every take without trying to edit. I'm looking for the best performance, then the best color, etc.

I immediately ditch takes with bad acting, out of focus, boom in the shot, or other technical problems. I clear them right from the timeline so they don't overwhelm me.

I then cut the scene together, watch it a couple times, and move on.

I do not do any effects or fancy work on the rough. No gunshots, muzzle flashes, grading, or what have you. Just the scene. After the whole movie is rough cut, I'll go back and add effects and do CC and everything else I need to do before I lock picture and hand it over to my post audio guy.

Two cameras was a blessing and a curse. The blessing is having tons of angles of the same scenes. The curse comes in the edit where you have waaaaaay more than you need. Sometimes the footage looks to similar: Sometimes we would line up the two cameras together - a 50mm on ne and an 85 on the other. The end results don't look radically different from each other and then you're forced to choose - which fries you after 10 hours of it!

I edit the way I like to see it. I generally ignore standard convention when I feel like it. There are some instances where I've cut from a wide to a CU - a no no - bit it looks good in the application I used it in, so there it is.

It's interesting how the edit can subtly spin the story. You can literally create as much in the edit as you can in the filming. I can speed up conversations...I can stretch them out. You can dwell on looks, you can omit them. It all adds to the story.

I must say the movie looks good. I've shown a few people some tiny portions, and they all say the same thing: They want to watch more. And I suppose that's a good thing.

To me, it looks like Corrado is shaping up to be a decent movie. I don't intend to blow my horn one bit, but I promise you Corrado will not make you laugh at it like you would a terribly bad movie.
 
Great update! Looking forward to hearing more! :)

PS. Good call on not doing more than a picture cut at this stage, trying to do EVERYTHING on the first pass is just asking for it... then it would really feel like a battle you couldn't win.
 
I think Corrado's the most anticipated DVXuser film at the moment. Make sure you invite me to the first showing!
 
Will you again shoot two cameras?

I enjoyed reading how you cast your movie, but you didn't write much about how you directed it. Would you do more directing next time or less directing?

What did you do to switch hats from being a director to being an editor? You didn't allow any time between the two tasks.

Good luck with Corrado. Which festivals will you enter it in?
 
filmman said:
Will you again shoot two cameras?

I enjoyed reading how you cast your movie, but you didn't write much about how you directed it. Would you do more directing next time or less directing?

What did you do to switch hats from being a director to being an editor? You didn't allow any time between the two tasks.

Good luck with Corrado. Which festivals will you enter it in?
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Thanks!

I would definitely use two cameras again.......but not necessarily edit!!!!! You can't afford NOT to shoot with two cameras especially when you are filming squibs / stunts / gunfire or something else that can't easily be duplicated.

How did I direct it: Not too forcefully. Everyone was prepared and knew their lines, and the only real direction was telling the actors the way I wanted the scene blocked. From there, they ran with it and I am real happy with the performances. On the camera side, my running agreement with the DP was that I would block the scene with the actors, and choose the most important shots or the ones I really wanted to see. He would move in for coverage.

That's more or less how it went.

Still unsure of festivals for Corrado. I'll do one for sure, but Corrado's no festival whore! Corrado needs to go and make money.
 
taormina said:
Still unsure of festivals for Corrado. I'll do one for sure, but Corrado's no festival whore! Corrado needs to go and make money.
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Sometimes the way to $$ is through festivals... having festival appearances and wins is never a bad thing when seeking distribution.
 
Very true Brandon, but they better be local ones or else I have to shuttle my cast around and put them up....first class.
 
Hey Adam, I really admire what you've done and I think you're the f*cking man for releasing your knowledge in this thread. I haven't made my way all the way through it (just found it recently) but I will.

Lastly, as a fellow Believer, I love to see you making an entertaining balls to the wall movie!
 
Thanks Shawn!!!!

Bitchin banner on your timefest entry.

I broke the 1 hour mark for editing today......Corrado: 60:00 TRT!!!!!
 
taormina said:
Thanks!

Still unsure of festivals for Corrado. I'll do one for sure, but Corrado's no festival whore! Corrado needs to go and make money.
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hee hee hee.... great line!

Congrats on the cutting.

I was just reading through some of you comments here and I started to wonder.... did you have someone shooting for "bonus material" on a dvd? I imagine that there is so much to think about and this could be easily overlooked.
 
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